Sunday, January 1, 2012

Nick Murphy's Obligatory Top 10 Movie List: 2011

I am a simple irregular blog artist. I do not get paid to write about movies, but perhaps I should. I would probably do a lot better job doing movie reviews than the job I currently get paid to do-- but that’s neither here nor there. Back on topic, it is the end of the year once again and I have a top ten movie list to excrete on the interweb. Now I’ve had a real love/hate relationship with movies throughout 2011. It has not been the best year for cinema, in fact it has been kind of dismal. I’m not saying that most of the movies that came out were absolute dogshit, but they have been mostly mediocre. Now out of the many flicks unleashed on the United States public this year, I saw a little over 100. I was really searching for some winners among this sea of average CGI laden fare and luckily I managed to find some. And while admittedly, I did not get to see every movie I wanted to see this year, I doubt I will see any other motion pictures that would have made it on this list anyway. A cynical way of thinking, I know, but it comes with the optimism of certainty that 2012 will be a much better year for movies. I have droned on long enough. On to the list!

 NICK MURPHY'S TOP TEN FAVORITE MOVIES OF 2011


10) Submarine

A film that could have easily got lost in its own quirkiness, ‘Submarine’ is a fresh breeze of indie air. Richard Ayoade is best known for his remarkable comedic performances on BBC shows such as ‘The IT Crowd’ and ‘Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace’, but as writer/director of this tragicomic coming of age story, he emerges as a filmmaking force to be reckoned with. Filled with a style reminiscent of Wes Anderson’s work and some editing techniques that are comparable to those of ‘A Clockwork Orange’, ‘Submarine’ is one of the more intelligent comedies of recent years.


9) Rise of the Planet of the Apes

 Here is a movie that had “disaster” written all over it. Not only was it a prequel to a film series that the public had given up on, it also followed in the footsteps of a remake that many consider to be the low point in director Tim Burton’s career. So personally, I wasn’t too excited about this. However, amazingly, the movie beat the odds and rose up as a phenomenal success. Thanks in no small part to powerful flourishes of storytelling and game changing motion capture effects that are more seamless than any film I’ve ever seen. While Tim Burton’s decade old vision of ‘Planet of the Apes’ is a terrifically insane guilty pleasure, ‘Rise of the Planet of the Apes’ offers a quality rarely achieved by the mainstream Hollywood blockbusters of today.


8) Super 8

 If Steven Spielberg had access to the type of visual effects we have today back in the early 1980s, this is probably the type of movie he would make. J.J. Abrams proves himself a worthy successor to the Spielberg legacy by directing this pristine picture of energetic youth and authentic nostalgia. While I was slightly disappointed that the mysterious creature teased at in the trailers was (obviously) an alien, that discovery had virtually no effect on the high I felt while watching this movie. ‘Super 8’ has all the gleeful spectacle and touching sentimentality of an early Spielberg picture with impressive performances by its bright young cast. All the expensive CGI aside, what makes this flick work best is its incredible early ‘80s look, its portrait of bittersweet innocence and its heartbreaking view on coping with loss.


7) Red State

 Kevin Smith is the king of intelligent, foul mouthed comedies. I have some mad respect for the guy-- even after ‘Cop Out’ (we all make mistakes). But when I heard that he was going to depart from his usual style of talky and vulgar humor and instead tackle the horror genre, I was a bit skeptical. But after, ‘Cop Out’ the only way for him to go was up and up he goes back to the top of the indie food chain with ‘Red State’. Here Smith doesn’t just embrace the horror genre, he embraces many genres making this an orgy of genre splitting good times. It starts out as some kind of dark teen sex comedy with the type of dialogue you might hear in a Rob Zombie movie, then it turns into a true horror picture when Michael Parks shows up and delivers a monologue that starts off light and funny, then insightful, then offensive, then horrifying during a fifteen minute scene that is among some of the finest writing and directing Kevin Smith has ever done. After that, it is an all out violent and action packed thriller full of unexpected moments and brutal deaths. It’s all capped off with a denouement that felt inspired straight from the Coen brothers that will infuriate and delight many. ’Red State’ is the change of pace Kevin Smith’s career absolutely needed and I sincerely hope that he doesn’t retire from filmmaking after his next flick.


6) We Need To Talk About Kevin

 ‘We Need To Talk About Kevin’ was the most unexpected surprise of the year. I heard little about it before I watched it, didn’t have exceptionally high hopes for it, then I saw it and got sucker punched mentally and emotionally with every turn of its fractured drama. Tilda Swinton gives the strongest performance of any actress this year as a mother raising a child who is slowly revealed to be a psychopath and Ezra Miller is quickly becoming one of the most despicable young actors I’ve ever seen with his performance as the titular Kevin who exudes so much menace and creepiness that he is destined to play villainous roles for years as he enters adulthood. Some of this film is not easy to take and there are no easy answers as to why some of the characters do what they do, but that is where the truth lies in this tension filled motion picture.


5) Moneyball

 As a child, I used to love baseball. I was in little league, I collected baseball cards and I went to the games. Then when I was nine I got seriously into movies and that’s a fascination I still live with today as you can tell. But I must admit how happy I was to have that distant love for America’s favorite pastime reinvigorated with this exceptional film. ‘Moneyball’ is an excruciatingly boring concept when written on paper. I mean, how is it possible to make a story about baseball statistics entertaining and emotionally gratifying for an audience? But somehow in the capable hands of director Bennett Miller and writers Steven Zallian and Aaron Sorkin they made this film into an excellent look at winning and losing with a terrific cast headed by Brad Pitt, Jonah Hill and Phillip Seymour Hoffman. This true story of how the Oakland A’s pulled off the longest American League winning streak in history is inspiring on every conceivable level.


4) 50/50

Taking a fresh, vibrant and occasionally hilarious approach to dealing with the effects of cancer, '50/50' is the most truthful and best comedy of 2011. Joseph Gordon Levitt continues his rise as one of the most interesting actors to watch as his character copes with the debilitating elements of a rare cancer. And Seth Rogen does some of his best work here as JGL's supportive and unapologetically vulgar best friend. In fact the entire ensemble is a collection of fascinating portrayals of rich and deeply complex characters. Loosely based on screenwriter Will Reiser's struggle with the disease, this film captures the hope, the depression and the humor that people need to get through such a fearful situation. And what results is one of the most uplifting movies in recent memory.


3) I Saw The Devil

Movies don't get much more brutal than 'I Saw The Devil', a South Korean thriller that ends up redefining the revenge movie. At the beginning, the film presents itself as a simple tale of a man wanting to get even for the vicious murder of his fiance. However, when he finally comes face to face with her unremorseful killer at an early point in the film, that's when things take a very interesting turn. For a full 145 minutes, this film took me on a deeply unpleasant ride through a vile vengeance fantasy that is certainly not for all tastes, but when violent carnage is as beautifully done as it is here, I cannot help but marvel at it. Here is an exploitive romp that is artfully crafted in the skillful and intelligent way that only Korean filmmakers can pull off.


2) The Last Circus

 Speaking of violent carnage, here's another machine gun spewing barrage of it. 'The Last Circus' is an exemplary Spanish film that plays like a seriously insane take on 'Water For Elephants' with its big top setting and central love triangle. The story blossoms throughout, starting with an excellent opening sequence involving the Spanish Civil War that leads to a failed revenge plot which then flash forwards to the early 1970s and shows how its main protagonist went from a wide eyed child to a bloated overweight clown who falls in love with the wrong woman whom his devotion to ends up being the last straw that breaks his sanity. Definitely not for everyone, but it's an excellently constructed piece of cinema from director Alex de la Iglesia, a filmmaker whose past work I'm looking forward to catching up on.


1) Drive

Keeping up with the theme of revenge like in my tops 2 and 3, my favorite movie this year is another tale of lost love and brutal vengeance, a traditional story done in a fun, new and artistic way. 'Drive' is a film fanboy's dream with fantastic cinematography and an orgasmic synthesizer soundtrack. Ryan Gosling carries the film on his shoulders saying very little dialogue, but steaming with brutal intensity making him the cinematic icon of the year. Director Nicolas Winding Refn has built a quality reputation for himself with films like 'Pusher', 'Bronson', and 'Valhalla Rising', but with 'Drive' he takes the promise offered by his previous work and follows it through with a superb and sublime vision jammed packed with rock solid performances. Albert Brooks is especially good here, cast against type as a reasonable, but fearful crime boss who can kill someone with the same effort he puts into adjusting his tie. In a year of ups and downs, 'Drive' reaches the highest of highs. Not only is it the best film of 2011, it's the best film of 2011 by a wide margin. Over the course of the coming years, 'Drive' will most likely prove itself as one of the most influential movies of this generation. It's a simplistic yet masterful experience. A slow burn thriller that builds to an explosion of poetic violence. I deeply loved this flick and I feel a little sorry for those who won't get the same joy out of it.

So there you have it folks! 2011 is in the books and filed away. We don't have to worry about it anymore and that's enough to keep me happy.

See you next year!

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